To Palermo, 17-18 May

On the 200 nautical mile crossing to Palermo, we soon found ourselves alone in the Tyrrhenian Sea, with no coast or boats in sight for 360 degrees. I love this feeling. But while we were looking around, we happened to see a young turtle (30cm wide) swimming westwards to an undetermined destination... A few hours later we came across a large shoal of dolphins who took the opportunity of our boat passing by at 7 knots to jump and play. What a treat to sail with dolphins! But this made it clear that you are never alone in the middle of the seas!

So, what else was on the way?

First of all, we had a lot of discussions about the best time to leave for this 200 nm trip. Looking at the forecasts, we got very different information depending on which models were used, with a twofold difference in wind strength. In the end, after entering all the parameters into the Weather4D routing software, we decided to leave on Wednesday 17 May at 2.00am. This was the fastest option, in 34 hours, requiring no tacking or engine use, and cherry on the cake, with sun all along the way.

Having to wait until 2:00 am, we spent the last evening exploring the town of Arbatax (I cannot refrain from calling it Bar Tabax), the local harbour and the stunning beach known for its red granite rocks.

The red granite rocks in Arbatax beach

Sunset at the beach

The next morning, at 2.30am, we actually got under way, heading south-east towards Palermo. For the first few hours we had a steady broad reach wind, between 20 and 30 knots. As the sun rose, the wind dropped to 15-20 knots, still allowing us to sail over 7 knots on the broad reach. What a pleasure!

A few hours after the turtle encounter, we encountered a large shoal of dolphins, obviously happy to play with Belisama as she sailed with them at 7 knots. It was such a pleasure and emotion to hear them call out to us as they jumped around.

Then came the second night in a row with back reach winds of 15 to 20 knots. A very enjoyable ride, only challenged at times by the waves as we were sailing using the pilot.

As we sailed through the night, we came across areas where we generated strong luminescent phenomena in our wake. The picture below was an attempt to capture the visual impression. However, as it was a moonless night, the picture is limited in its ability to capture the visual impression. In any case, the experience was very impressive.

Picture taken from the wake of the boat...

Confused, I asked ChatGpt about this phenomenon. It replied as follows: "Phosphorescence is often attributed to the presence of bioluminescent plankton, such as dinoflagellates or other microorganisms. These organisms contain luciferin, a light-emitting pigment, and when disturbed or agitated they emit a bright, glowing light.

When a boat moves through the water, it creates turbulence and disturbance that can trigger the bioluminescent reaction in the plankton. The movement of the boat and the waves it creates further diffuse and amplify the light, creating a trail of phosphorescence in the wake of the boat".

Luciferin-containing organisms, I love it as we follow the path of Ulysse towards the Strait of Messina.

Then the sun set around 6:00.

And a few hours after we had our first glance at the Sicilian coast

The last few miles are always the longest, especially when the wind dies down. As we approached the coast, we were struck by the impression of a cape of light clouds that covered the lower part of the cliffs all the way down to the water, as if the cold wind blowing over the ridge lines turned into a cloud as it descended the slope.

A view of Capo Gallo as we make the final approach to Palermo.

In the first three weeks of our Odyssey, apart from a few incidents in the first few days related to Belisama's seasonal rearming (dead bow batteries and condensation in the diesel), we had no problems with her. The main concern was the weather, with a succession of gale force winds and strong headwinds forcing us to reduce our explorations a little, taking shelter in place and making the most of favourable windows to move forward. Overall, we covered 541 nautical miles (a bit short of a thousand kilometres.

Incidentally, the crossing to Palermo was my birthday present, completed with an impressive improvised birthday cake!